St. John's National Animal Rights Day 2024

● A Memorial Ceremony to commemorate the billions of animals who die every year by human hands. ● A Celebration of the progress that is being made towards ending the suffering of animals and bringing forth their freedom. Welcome to NARD 14! Follow us for more details to be announced: www.thenard.org @nationalanimalrightsday The National Animal Rights Day is an annual day commemorated in a growing number of countries around the world, with special events dedicated solely to animals and their rights. They give a voice to all animals and draw attention to their plight with 3 main goals: • Commemorate the billions of animals who have been abused and killed in the past year by human hands. • Educate the public about this sad reality and its impact on the animals, human health and our planet, and what they can do to change this reality (switching to a cruelty-free vegan lifestyle). • Celebrate the animals in our lives, the major wins our movement has had in the past year on the way to end animal suffering, and our community of activists who tirelessly fight for animals all year round. To achieve these three goals, the NARD events are comprised of 2 parts: 1. AN OPENING CEREMONY – the commemorative part of the event - an artistic funeral / memorial ceremony for the animals who have died in the past year, often in the presence of some of these actual victims, held by human activists. At the same time, it also functions as a “silent protest” of humanity’s treatment of animals. It ends with the reading and signing of the Declaration of Animal Rights. 2. A CELEBRATION – the educational and celebratory part of the event – a happy and joyful gathering that offers info to the public on animal rights and veganism. It offers a chance for activists and vegans to come together in solidarity, form bonds and socialize, and have fun in the presence of like-minded individuals, while providing a positive, welcoming, and educational image of strength, compassion and camaraderie to the public to normalize veganism and invite others to join us. We will have and tables and displays dedicated to outreach, with information about animal sentience and individuality, and pictures of happy and free animals to show the world we want to create. Finally, we will end the celebration with a group potluck-style picnic, where we will share our best vegan recipes with each other and show the world just how delicious and varied vegan food is! This year, there will be a global collaboration with the Save Movement, Anonymous for the Voiceless, and We The Free, and those groups have been invited to attend the NARD in their individual group's attire and conduct demonstrations in their own styles during and after the celebratory part of the event, as well as educate the public and potential new activist recruits about their group and their missions. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Schedule for NARD14 St John's: 11:00-11:30 am: Ceremony participants muster at Bannerman Park to change clothes and receive posters. Participants should wear the NARD "Our Planet. Theirs too" T-shirt or, if participating as a member of the Save Movement, AV, or WTF, their own group's custom T-shirts. 11:30-12:00 noon: We will proceed to the designated ceremony/celebration area at the gazebo by the loop and organize the funeral procession, Declaration, tables and posters, other decorations, music, etc. 12:00-12:30pm: Silent Funeral/Memorial procession through Bannerman Park, we will display the NARD banner and posters showing pictures of individual victims in lieu of actual animal bodies, and circle around to return to the celebration area to conclude the ceremony. 12:30-12:45pm: Ceremonial reading and signing of the Declaration of Animal Rights, followed by a minute of silence to commemorate the countless billions of animals who have suffered and died by human hands this year. 1:00-3:00 pm: Celebratory and Educational event involving vegan potluck and picnic, music, outreach table, educational displays, posters of liberated animals, and demonstrations from the Save Movement/AV/WTF. Nonhuman animal companions are welcome and encouraged to attend as well, of course. 3:00: Thanks, news about upcoming events, and breakdown/pack-up. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~